The United Kingdom (UK) government on Wednesday has introduced new guidance that tightens immigration rules.
The UK government said under the new guidance, it would be impossible for migrants who arrive by small boats or hidden in vehicles to become British citizens.
This policy, effective from February 10, 2025, is said to be part of a broader crackdown on illegal migration under the Labour government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
A breakdown of the guidance revealed that any person applying for citizenship from February 10, 2025, who previously entered the UK illegally will “normally be refused,” regardless of the time that has passed since the illegal entry.
This includes migrants who arrived without valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorization and made a “dangerous journey,” such as travelling by small boat or concealed in a vehicle.
Also, the new guidance explicitly defines a “dangerous journey” as including, but not limited to, small boat crossings or being concealed in vehicles or other conveyances.
It excludes arrivals as passengers on commercial airlines, which are not considered dangerous under this definition.
The policy is expected to affect refugees and asylum seekers who have been granted refugee status or indefinite leave to remain after entering the UK illegally.
The Home Office, in an update issued to the public, emphasized that the policy builds on existing rules that can prevent illegal entrants from gaining citizenship, but this clarification strengthens and formalizes the measures.
A Home Office spokesperson stated, “There are already rules that can prevent those arriving illegally from gaining citizenship. This guidance further strengthens measures to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, including small boat arrivals, faces having a British citizenship application refused.”
The announcement comes after MPs this week debated the government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, designed to give law enforcement officials “counter-terror style powers” to break up gangs bringing irregular migrants across the Channel.
Legal and undocumented immigration, both currently running at historically high levels, was a major political issue at the July 2024 poll that brought Starmer to power.
On taking office, he immediately scrapped his Conservative predecessor Rishi Sunak’s plan to deter undocumented migration to the UK by deporting new arrivals to Rwanda.
Instead, he pledged to “smash the gangs” to bring the numbers down.
